(Repeating for additional clients without changes to text)
By Elizabeth Dilts, Julie Gordon and Tim Reid
FORT LAUDERDALE/NEW YORK/SEATTLE/VANCOUVER Dec 21(Reuters) -
U .S. and Canadian officials have pledged to work with China to
track down and repatriate Chinese fugitives living abroad. But
that cooperation is proving to have clear limits.
So far, only one person on China's Operation Sky Net list of
100 most wanted fugitives - 46 of whom were believed to be in
the United States and Canada - has been returned to China from
either country.
Another woman on the list chose to return to China from the
U.S. herself, and at least one more is in a U.S. immigration
detention center awaiting deportation.
Reuters found that many of the remaining North American
suspects on the list, like Florida businessman Wei Chen and
British Columbia mushroom farmer Wang Qingwei, are living openly
as legal immigrants and have heard nothing from the U.S. or
Canadian governments since the Sky Net list was published in
April.
"The list has ruined my life, but I'm not hiding," said
Chen, a U.S. citizen since 2005, in an interview with Reuters.
"I don't know about the other 99 people, but I didn't do what
they said."
Liu Jianchao, China's minister in charge of repatriating
corruption suspects, told Reuters that 17 of 100 Sky Net
fugitives have been returned so far, mostly from countries with
close ties to China, including Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and
Uganda. ID:nL3N1351T2
COOPERATION WITH LIMITS
Neither the United States nor Canada has an extradition
treaty with China, partly because they question the integrity of
its judicial system and treatment of prisoners. That has meant
that the only people on China's list who have so far faced
deportation in North America are those found to have committed
crimes or immigration violations since arriving.
One of them, Yang Xiuzhu, 69, told Reuters she entered the
U.S. on a fake passport. She is in custody awaiting deportation
proceedings and has filed for asylum.
The one corruption suspect on the wanted list returned to
China from North America so far was Yang's brother, who was
deported for U.S. immigration violations in September.
The United States has carefully calibrated its public
statements on the assistance it will offer China. A spokesman
for the Department of Justice said the U.S. will "vigorously
pursue prosecutions" against fugitives sought by China "where
there is alleged money laundering or other criminal activity in
this country."
However, U.S. officials have also made clear that they would
need to see China's evidence of crimes before offering full
cooperation. A former U.S. security official, who asked not to
be named, said China has provided virtually no evidence so far
against the alleged fugitives.
Canada, which elected a new federal government in October,
has said it will continue to work on a deal with China to return
corrupt officials in exchange for a share of the assets seized,
which would be considered proceeds of the individual's crimes
While Canada does not have an extradition treaty with China,
if an individual is found to have lied on a visa application -
as in falsely stating that money brought into the country was
obtained legally when it was not- residency can be revoked.
At least one corruption suspect in Canada and one in the
U.S. have been awarded citizenship, and many more have been
granted permanent residency. Those located by Reuters questioned
why they were on the list.
Miami businessman Chen is accused by China of
misappropriating public funds while working at the state-owned
Haomen Group. Chinese authorities declined requests from Reuters
to elaborate on the charges.
Speaking publicly for the first time, Chen denied the
allegations to a Reuters reporter. Chen said he suspects that
officials blame him for the overall decline of Haomen's business
after it entered into a poorly-fated joint venture with French
company Danone group.
He said he expected to hear from U.S. officials after
finding himself on the list but has not. He received a call last
month from a Chinese anti-corruption officer only after Reuters
made inquiries about his case there. Chen said the official
would not elaborate on why he is on the list.
Huang Hong, Chen's ex-wife, is also on the Sky Net list.
Chen confirmed that Hong is in the U.S. and said she had not
been contacted by either Chinese or U.S. officials. He said she
never worked at Haomen but declined to talk more about her. Hong
did not reply to messages left by Reuters.
Evaluating Chen's assertion of innocence or China's
accusations is difficult, since the events took place more
than 20 years ago.
Another of the corruption suspects, Wang, wanted by China
for alleged accounting fraud, operates a small mushroom farm in
the Canadian town of Chilliwack. He was out making deliveries
when Reuters visited, but his brother confirmed that Wang is the
man on the Sky Net list and said he was unaware of Wang having
been contacted by authorities.
When asked about the allegations against Wang, the brother
declined to comment, but gestured toward a sagging 1920s
farmhouse, its back porch littered with inexpensive children's
shoes and muddy work boots.
"He's a farmer," he said.
Another man on the list, wanted for alleged corruption and
bribery, lives in a modest townhouse outside Seattle. He asked
not to be identified because he didn't want to attract
additional attention to his situation.
His wife, who answered the door to two Reuters reporters
recently, said he has not been contacted by Chinese or U.S.
authorities.
She declined to comment on the charges except to say, "If
you offend the leadership, the leadership will retaliate."
HUNTED ACROSS CONTINENTS
To be sure, some individuals on the list have been pursued
more aggressively. Canadian authorities for years denied
Vancouver property developer Michael Ching Mo Yeung citizenship,
which he claimed in a lawsuit was because of corruption charges
leveled against him by China. He has since applied for refugee
status. ID:nL2N0ZX1OZ
Yang Xiuzhu, the woman arrested and held since last year on
immigration violation charges, spoke to Reuters recently at a
New York detention facility. Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit,
Yang said she was arrested at her sister's New York apartment
just a month after she arrived in the United States on a false
passport last year.
Yang, accused of stealing $39 million while deputy mayor of
Wenzhou, in Eastern China, denied the charges against her. She
called the list a political document targeting enemies of the
current regime rather than a roster of true criminals.
"I suspect I am a pawn between U.S. and Chinese
negotiators," she said.
When her brother was returned to China, state-owned media
showed him handcuffed, flanked by policemen, being led off a
private jet at Fuzhou airport in southeastern China. He has not
been seen in public since.
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GRAPHIC: China's Sky Net corruption charges http://tmsnrt.rs/1l8serI
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